My Favorite 2012 Prospects

These are my favorite NFL prospects by position right now. Feel free to post your own or critique/praise mine.

Quarterback – Andrew Luck 6’4”/235 Stanford
It’s cliché to say now but he is the best college quarterback prospect I have ever seen and that includes Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning. Whichever franchise lands him gets an immediate game changer. The Cowboys have almost zero chance at landing him but he is too good to not include on my list. He will go #1 overall, no matter which team ends up with the pick.

Runningback – Trent Richardson 5’11”/224 Alabama
I would have been begging for this pick had we not just invested a recent high pick on DeMarco Murray. The kid is a freak in the weight room and will be a workhorse at the next level.

Wide Receiver – Nick Toon 6’2”/220 Wisconsin
Alshon Jeffery and Justin Blackmon are the top 2 guys but I like Toon. I’d really like it if he somehow slipped to the 3rd round and the Cowboys took him.

Tight End – David Paulson 6’3”/242 Oregon
Not a great draft for TE but with the likely departure of Martellus Bennett we may need to look here. Paulson isn’t a superstar but is very solid blocker and receiver.

Offensive Line – Peter Konz (C) 6’5”/315 Wisconsin
Konz was neck-and-neck with Ohio State’s Michael Brewster but Konz has really impressed me in his last 2 games. Either player would solidify the Center position for the Cowboys for the next decade.

Defensive Line – Jesse Williams (NT and DE) 6’4”/320 Alabama
A bit of a sleeper here who may not be come season’s end. He’s a JuCo transfer originally from Australia. He’s strong, surprisingly quick, and a little bit crazy.

Cornerback – Brandon Boykin 5’10”/183 Georgia
If he was 2 inches talker he’s be a surefire 1st rounder. He still may fly up draft boards once they see what he does at the Combine. One of the better return men in college as well.

Safety – Markelle Martin 6’1”/198 Oklahoma State
I’m undecided between Martin and TJ McDonald but to protect you all from my USC homering I’ll go with Martin. He has great speed (4.47 40) and is not afraid to throw his 198 lbs. around. He would give the Cowboys the first pure Free Safety in years.

He had 2 picks last week vs Arizona which were the first interceptions thrown by Nick Foles this year.

The "usually disciplined" comes from the ASU games 2 weeks ago. Apparently TJ wanted to out-personal foul Vontaze Burfict or he watched some Taylor Mays YouTube highlights, but he had 3 costly late or illegal hit penalties.

He had 2 picks last week vs Arizona which were the first interceptions thrown by Nick Foles this year.

The "usually disciplined" comes from the ASU games 2 weeks ago. Apparently TJ wanted to out-personal foul Vontaze Burfict or he watched some Taylor Mays YouTube highlights, but he had 3 costly late or illegal hit penalties.

Does He have the cover skills to play in today's NFL? Is he a big hitter?

Does He have the cover skills to play in today's NFL? Is he a big hitter?

Yes and yes.. but I think he is better suited for Strong Safety at the NFL level.. USC (Monte Kiffin's) Tampa 2 defense lists their safeties opposite of traditional thinking. They list TJ as Free Safety and the other guy (Starling, Jones, or Wright) at Strong Safety. That Strong Safety is usually 12 to 15 yards off the line of scrimmage and is the last line of defense. TJ is "free" to line up all over the place in an effort to give him more opportunities to make plays.

Similar to the way they used Eric Berry at Tennessee and John Lynch with Tampa Bay.

I just know that upon reading this, a little voice in the back of your head whispered "championship", you ol' homer...

The best thing about this list is it's so short; those 11 players are the only draft-eligible Horns I can find on NFL Draft Scout... this is an unusually short list for the Horns, but this is a young team...

For the rest of you, I'm just playing around... I'd purely hate that draft... of those 11 players, the only ones I'd really be interested in come draft day (and after) are Cody Johnson, Christian Scott and Justin Tucker...

BTW, I don't think that Okafor is draft-eligible... at least, NFLDS lists him as a 2013 prospect... have you heard something that he might come out early??